Greetings, batfolk!! My guest this episode is Dr. Dina Dechmann, a Swiss ecologist that lives in Switzerland and then crosses the border to work in Germany every day at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior. Dina’s career and research has taken her all over the world, as you’ll soon learn, and the questions she’s asking have to do with bat behavior and the energetic realities that underlie them. I found myself just completely fascinated by the processes and strategies bats employ to...

Greetings, batfolk!! My guest today is Dr. Melissa Ingala. Among other things, I talked to Melissa about her projects at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and the American Museum of Natural History, why Nancy Simmons is such a batass (that’s b-a-t-ass, hehe), what the heck a microbiome even is and how she studies them in bats, sourcing formaldehyde and locally distilled ethanol from a seedy Peruvian street market where at least a few people have been maimed, and how I, as a...

Which came first: the vampire bat or the vampire cryptid? According to Dr. Gerry Carter, the cryptid is a cheap imitation of the real flesh-and-blood bat although the animal was technically named after the mythical creature. In this episode, among other things, we talk about Gerry's fascinating introduction to the bat world, the serendipity of two apparently disparate passions joining together, why organisms do things that benefit others at all, and what it takes to start and run a lab....

This is the first BONUS EPISODE of Give Bats A Podcast! It's just me this time talking about the phenomenal experience that is the Bat Blitz. If you're in the United States and have never participated in a Bat Blitz, listen to this episode to get a sense of what it was like through the lens of my experience. I had an absolute blast and cannot WAIT to get back into the field, meet up with the friends I've made, and catch more bats! Visit the Give Bats A Break Linktree to find ALL of the GBAB...

What do Gondwanaland, the kōkako, bat walks, and eliminating New Zealand’s invasive animal species have in common? They’re all things Ben Paris spoke with me about in this new episode! Find all of the Give Bats A Break merch, socials, and podcasting platforms at the Linktree. I'd love it if you would leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser! Find and follow Ben Paris on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok! Go to the Bird of the Year 2021 website and vote for the...

Have you ever thought about the fact that someone has to, like, actually get the bones out of dead animals to study them? If not, then now’s a great time to start! It’s exactly what my guest does for her research and we talk all about it in this episode! Find all of the Give Bats A Break merch, socials, and podcasting platforms at the Linktree. I'd love it if you would leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser! You can find Stefania on her Instagram or her Twitter. Dig the...

Dr. Erin Baerwald was generous enough to be my first guest and it COULD NOT HAVE BEEN BETTER. We talked about the best bat AKA the Hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus)(we also agreed that all bats are good bats and there isn't really a best bat, don't worry), wind energy, animal conservation and its difficulties, beer, some questions from one of my daughters, and generally just had a great time! If you'd like to find Dr. Baerwald on Instagram or Twitter, find her @batsborealis You can find more of...

Hi! Nate from Give Bats A Break here.   When you accidentally go viral for @-ing the Pope on Twitter to correct his bad take on bats and are subsequently adopted into the global bat community, you start a podcast. At least that's what I'm doing.   Ecologists. Zoologists. Biologists. Conservationists. Rehabilitators. Carers. Advocates.    Bat people are probably seen less than bats, so I'm changing that by talking to them about what they do and why they do it!   Give Bats A Podcast...